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Friday, September 12, 2008

Some of us, last time we checked, have singed our retinas with an image of unrecognisable designer Thierry Mugler as Manfred the body-builder (was the name intentionally Byronesque?)in socks, sandals and little else. Everyone is free to do as they see fit with their body and their lives, but it was a strange path to Destructionville.The Thierry Mugler fragrance line however seemed to have a life of its own, flourising into a multi-million dollar enterprise, creating a progeny of upstart imitators to boot and renewing its own faces fronting the advertisements. Mugler continues with a niche twist: the latest collection of scents was tightly distributed. "Oserez-vous la metamorphose?" (=Will you dare the metamorphosis?) was Mugler's last perfume collection's "Miroir, Miroir"(=looking-glass) motto and this tied in with his own metamorphosis. I am not sure if he envisioned himself as a chrysallis that was waiting to become a butterfly, because that would collide with my own perception, but you know what they say about tastes. Besides, Mugler seems to be after his own personal chimera and there is something painfully romantic about that, if you think about it.

Now, here he comes again with a new online project: The Island of Dr.Muglerstein (L'ile du Dr.Muglerstein), clickable here, brought by the Machinima Association.The clip is funny in uniting the Moulin Rouge mill with that golden robot from Star Wars, sci-fi and comic books design with Angel and Alien hints. There is also a blog option in which apparently Mugler will be a cosmic storyteller guiding us through his intergalactic mutant adventures, judging by the alien figure emerging at the end of the clip. And of course the title The Island of Dr.Muglerstein recalls the Island of Dr.No as well as The Island of Dr.Moreau by H.G.Wells (and the hundreds of artwork, novels and films inspired by it). And you do remember what happened in those stories, don't you!

Twisted! What do you think?

Link via POL and PaulJohn. Poster of The Island of Dr.Moreau 1977 film, courtesy of Wikipedia.

10 comments:

Well, I started my day looking at his island (via the POL link), and enjoy what I found there immensely, but then I have an predilection for sci fi! :) I even liked the weird Alien bottle (if not so much the juice - but even that I like better than I like to admit..)Do not look foreward to more alien-like perfumes, although! Will be interesting to see where his journey will lead

It needed commenting, didn't it ;-)I liked the parfum flacon (prodigy elixir parfum) for Alien, to be honest: it had the air of a futuristic pen-holder (see not so good pic here)But yes, no more Alien fragrances... It should be interesting to watch what happens with this, the frag line is taking a more "exclusive" stance lately.

It's sort of strange how he's almost completely disappeared into oblivion, especially as the Mugler look becomes almost synonymous with the 1980s and his pieces become more and more collectible and respected. I would think editors would go crazy for an updated version of his entomological and extraterrestrial fashions, and so would hipsters. And he was so handsome before!

I always thought he had a unique vision in is design (him and Montana). His Hell's Angels collection was a riot, his wasp-waisted dresses and jackets had a Minoan quality about them (OK, OK, I must be the one person who would actually say that! LOL)

He was perfectly fine lookswise, so I don't know what got into him. But people are complex things and we can't ever judge because we're not in their shoes.

And look what's going on with Leger these days! I never thought I'd see the bandage dresses be so hot again. Alaia's still going strong. And look who's modelling again: Linda for Prada, Claudia and Stefanie Seymour for Ferragamo, Claudia for Chanel...What's next, will Donatella actually do prints and couture jeans? I think we're also supposed to be excited about Halston again (ha). Seems to happen once a decade or so.

I've never thought of Mugler as having been influenced by Minoa though...he needs a retrospective book.

What a hoot, this guy is losing it or has he reliquinshed all power to the fragrance line marketing team, I don't know. What I know is that there's never a dull moment with your diverse posts, ha ha ha, that was a great weekend infosnack for me, thanks.Aline

Alaia was great I always thought. I liked the body clinging although it demanded an impcable physique. Herve Leger is big again, huh? And all the supermodels who had made the 'rat pack' of the late80s-early90s: yes, there is much recycling.I think Minoan ideal is the archetypal influence, so antyhing similar-looking later on I tend to attribute to that. Call it the perils of the profession ;-)

Elena Vosnaki is executive editor of Fragrantica.gr, the leader in fragrance information in Greek, as well as a senior editor for the top english-speaking Fragrantica.com webzine.

Vosnaki has been Fragrance Expert on About.com and the Perfume History Curator of the Be Open Foundation exhibitionThe Garden of Wonders, A Journey in Scents in Milan. Her writing has been twice shortlisted in the FIFI Editorial Excellence Awards and is extensively quoted by authors. She is an evaluating expert on Osmoz.com.

Perfume Shrine is an award winning blog of 1000s of fragrance reviews (modern, niche, classic, vintage), articles on perfume history and aroma materials, comparisons of scents, interviews with perfumers & the fragrance industry, perfume shopping as well as scented travel memoirs, fine cuisine, tips on building a fragrance wardrobe and musings about the pleasures of the senses.